I’d get a 27-minute window, run up to bed because it was the quietest place in the house and get down as many words as I could. A few days in Southend with two female friends felt thrillingly exotic after being locked down in Camberwell, south London for the past 15 months. I literally wanted to slap the title character around the face on numerous occasions; not because of her OCD, but because at 38 she's still relying on the bank of mum and dad!

Jane Is Trying is Isy Suttie's first novel but her voice has the easy, warm confidence of someone whose been at the lark for yonks; slyly funny, gently incisive, compassionate yes but with just enough wicked accuracy about the process of growing up and getting things wrong to make it painfully true. I SO rooted for Jane, and I really appreciated the character development given to the characters that you'd least expect. This is clearly a provincial, parochial world she knows well, and can tease it affectionately even as her heroine progresses ever further on the road paved with good intentions. The second series of her Sony award-winning radio series ISY SUTTIE'S LOVE LETTERS was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2014, and in 2014 she made her musical theatre debut as the starring role in THE A-Z OF MRS P at the Southwark Playhouse.Suttie brightens the page with her eccentric characters and wonderful observations of small-town life. This debut novel exudes all the offbeat humour and acute observation you might expect from the actress and comedian who first stole our hearts as Dobby in Peep Show.

There are some truly chaotic and humorous family scenes and an overall warmth running through the book, with a large cast of quirky characters and a dose of community action to boot. To me she was just a bit too self absorbed and passive, relying on others rather than making assertive choices, though she did evolve towards the end. I was a little frustrated by Jane's lack of agency - especially financial; given her career in London, the idea of living off her fiance and then father seemed overstated. Now, she’s trying to make a new start back home with her overprotective, charades-obsessed parents – having left her career and cheating fiancé behind in London.Some continuity issues aside, this was a story that kept me interested, wanting to know what happened next, and there were some interesting supporting characters along the way. Trying for a baby is a huge one, but also trying to hold it together, trying to overcome trauma, trying to understand and manage our own minds. I would recommend this book to All - very Entertaining and made especially so by Isy herself narrating - Isy has such an insight into All of us…. Some of the behaviour of others, especially her parents, was ridiculous to the point of hilarity at times. I loved some of the other characters who were well written and believable - especially Monica the hopelessly unprofessional therapist and Kelly a single mother who takes Jane under her wing.

A light and engaging tale, with a likeable and relatable less-than-perfect female protagonist with obsessive compulsive tendencies. Very few characters have any redeeming features, and though Jane clearly means well, her neurotic behaviour make her a hard protagonist to root for. Her mental health issues make her more resilient, not more fragile and she’s charming and funny as well as troubled, easy to root for as each event takes her further and further off course.I even felt myself get a tiny bit emotional near the end, and considering I’m a reading robot, that’s a surprise for me. Loved the depiction of OCD, always in the background like a thread running through the story, but not a total defining personality trait.

Smothered by small-town life, Jane realises she may have been running away from that the whole time anyway. It's an easy read, with the first half definitely stronger than the second, but it lacks substance and a clear sense of self. Other times it was downright irritating and so it was satisfying to see Jane refuse to engage with it.Although she's desperate to prove that she doesn't need her parents' or her nearly in-laws' help, she doesn't actually do much to prove them wrong. I was expecting to really enjoy this book - I like Issy Suttie as a comedian and found her previous book very funny. Thank you Isy for an enjoyable read - I loved hearing about your writing process on Lockdown Parenting Hell and also on Elis and John’s podcast too. Instead, she keeps referring to herself as a worrier (a worrier who's not concerned about taking antidepressants, funnily enough).